Officials including the Chinese Consul and former Assemblyman Mike Eng joined Singpoli CEO Kin Hui at the unveiling of his company’s entry in the 2014 Rose Parade. The float, titled “Connecting Cultures, Delivering Dreams,” features a pair of tianma, or heaven horses. it was designed by Paradiso’s Charles Meier. (Photo by Frank Girardot/Pasadena Star News)

PASADENA >> Standing before a pair of brilliant, white and larger-than-life tianma — winged heaven horses — at the base of his company’s planned Rose Parade float, Kin Hui, chairman of Singpoli Pacific, said he hoped the design would inspire cooperation among cultures.

The 55-foot-long float — titled “Connecting Cultures, Delivering Dreams” — was unveiled Thursday in the Paradiso Parade pavilion just outside the Rose Bowl. It is the only entry in the 125th Tournament of Roses representing a Pasadena-based small business.

Hui, was joined by Che Zhaohe, cultural consul in Los Angeles for the People’s Republic of China, Mayor Bill Bogaard, former Assemblyman Mike Eng (now a Los Angeles City College trustee) and Charles Meier, Paradiso’s founder. Hui said he hopes the message about “our fabulous Chinese culture” reaches “as many people as we can.”

“Our float is about giving wings to our dreams and chasing them,” Hui said. “As a float sponsored by a Chinese-American business, we want to show people that we are here to develop our dreams and to connect different cultures. It is a statement to show our level of commitment and that we are here to be part of the community,” Hui said.

Pointing to the examples of Dr. Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and even the “American Dream” embodied in the nation’s founders, Zhaohe said dreams are commonplace across cultures.

“To me the Chinese dream means peace, cooperation, progress for posterity and for the people to lead a good life,” Zhaohe said. “I believe each one of us has the right to pursue that dream. I believe that Chinese dreams and American dreams compliment each other. They can go forward together.”

In his remarks to the 100 or so guests gathered inside a covered pavilion in a parking lot on Rose Bowl Drive, Eng said he was excited to witness the early stages of the float construction and was inspired by the tianma.

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“On the day of the parade, the sun will rise at 6 a.m. and when this float begins to move, we will see ourselves on that float and we will take a ride on that street of dreams built by our ancestors,” Eng said.

“You have dared to dream,’ he added. “And so have I dreamed about one day attending the Rose Bowl Parade.”

The event began with remarks from Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard who congratulated Hui for his willingness to join the community.

As for the float, Bogaard commended it as “a reflection of Pasadena’s international flavor.”

Hui, who wore a dark blue Mandarin jacket over his Western suit and tie, said he thought of the Singpoli parade entry as a “wonderful combination of Eastern and Western cultures.”

“We believe the Rose Parade of 2014 will be a great success,” he said. “And we hope our float will bring people more joy in the New Year.”